This invention relates generally to apparatus for improving the combustion characteristics of an internal combustion engine, and specifically to apparatus which increases the vaporization of the air/fuel mixture prior to combustion.
The efficiency of fuel combustion has become increasingly important in recent years due to pressures both from internal concerns and foreign sovereignties. The gap between the need for internal combustion engine machines and the availability and cost of fuel triggered a demand for more efficient combustion. The pressures created by these demands have resulted in numerous technological advances in the art of fuel combustion, among which is that set forth in the instant disclosure.
The prior art teaches that before fuel is combusted in an internal combustion engine, it should be mixed with air and it should be atomized, to provide for greater control and efficiency. This mixing and atomizing is ordinarily performed by a carburetor, before the fuel is introduced into the combustion chamber. The prior art teaches that where the air/fuel mixture is vaporized, the efficiency of combustion is enhanced.
One method of achieving vaporization of the air/fuel mixture is to expose the mixture to heat sufficient to promote the vaporization. U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,292 describes an apparatus which so utilizes heat to induce vaporization. Reduced to its simplest elements, the apparatus therein disclosed operates as follows: The air/fuel mixture is directed into an elongated chamber with a baffle located along the center, creating in effect two chambers. The mixture may flow from the first to the second chamber only by passing through portals in the baffle. A third chamber having a common wall with at least one of the two previously mentioned chambers is provided for the reception of heated exhaust gases. The air/fuel mixture, which has absorbed some heat from the third chamber via the common wall, is eventually moved past the baffle between the first and second chambers, and through a pipe which makes its course through the third chamber. As the mixture travels through this pipe, it absorbs further heat to complete the vaporization. Means are then provided to introduce the vaporized air/fuel mixture into the engine.
While the instant invention also utilizes exhaust gases as a source of heat and involves a multi-chambered apparatus to effect vaporization, the uncomplicated scope of its design will be seen to promote vaporization in a fashion more simple and efficient than that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,292. Also, the more direct path of the air/fuel mixture fluid flow disclosed in the instant invention has the beneficial side effect of eliminating problems involved with a "cold start", a problem solved in prior inventions by more complex means. Further, the simplicity of design lends itself well to the manufacture of a highly reliable product.
The instant invention realizes the advantages of vaporization of the air/fuel mixture in an internal combustion engine, while avoiding some disadvantages of prior inventions, through the use of a novel apparatus.